McKneely said that the campaign team conducted interviews and a focus group in each of the five deaneries. The interviews with individuals covered basically the same information as the online survey.The focus group survey was exactly the same as the online survey.The focus groups’ answers are collected separately so consultants can see, when they do their analysis, what differences, if any, there might be in responses from people who simply read the case statement compared with those who discussed it in a group with a member of the committee.

The timeline going forward:

2/17 – The consultant, Mr. Terry Goolsby of RSI Stewardship, will do a few more interviews by phone on February 17 in an effort to get input from people who were not able to participate earlier, in the interest of hearing from every congregation if possible.

2/15 – 3/15 roughly – RSI will tabulate and analyze all the survey responses, including the text responses people wrote in and the input from interviews and focus group discussions. Goolsby will compile a comprehensive report.

Mid March – Goolsby will give a preliminary report to the Campaign Committee by phone.

Late March – Goolsby will present his final report and recommendations in person to the committee.

Goolsby will recommend, based on the data, whether or not the diocese should move forward at this time with the campaign as it has been described in the case statement. There are several possible outcomes, depending on the data:

the committee could proceed as planned.

the committee could decide to go back to the drawing board to rewrite the case statement to more closely capture the goals that people throughout the diocese identify as the highest priorities for the future of the diocese. The goals of the campaign might need to be adjusted, expanded, reduced, or re-designed based on the input.

the committee could adjust the amount of the goal, should the goal amount ($3 million) appear too high or too low, based on the data from people’s responses.